Bakers gear up for sixth sourdough September

Bakers across the UK and Ireland are getting ready for the sixth annual Sourdough September – a celebration of the floury fermentation that includes classes, giveaways and more.

The month-long festival, created by the Real Bread Campaign in 2013, has a number of initiatives planned, including the celebration of independent local bakeries that bake ‘genuine’ sourdough and encouraging more people to bake loaves at home.

The Campaign is also hoping to raise awareness of what it has dubbed ‘sourfaux’. It believes that only bread made using a live sourdough culture – without the addition of commercial yeast, raising agents or artificial additives – should be marketed as sourdough.

Activities kick off on 1 September at the Theatre of Food at Electric Picnic in Ireland. During the festival, bakers including Jason O’Brien of Roundstone Bakehouse, Patrick Ryan of Firehouse Bakery, Shannen Butler Keane of Diva Boutique Bakery, and Joe Fitzmaurice of Riot Rye will be joined by Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young to give away free sourdough starters, a ‘babysitting’ guide and recipe sheet, and talking festival-goers through baking genuine sourdough loaves.

London’s Ma Baker, the School of Artisan Food in Welbeck and Wild Baker in Oxfordshire will also be running sourdough workshops across the month, with many bakeries giving away free sourdough starters.

Bakers are encouraged to get involved on social media by using the hashtag #SourdoughSeptember.